Question

"Mr. Choe solved an equation, and his work is shown below:

3x + 2 = 15
He followed these steps:
Divide 3 on both sides of the equation.
1x + 2 = 5
Subtract 2 on both sides of the equation.
x = 3

Answer 1

The correct steps to solve 3x + 2 = 15 are subtracting 2 from both sides to get 3x = 13 and then dividing by 3 to find x = 13/3 or approximately 4.33.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student is asking about a mathematical equation where Mr. Choe solved it with a mistake. We need to correct the solution by following the accepted mathematical procedures:

1. Identify the unknown: This is often the variable we want to solve for, which is x in our case.
2. Identify the knowns: These are the numbers given in the equation, which are 3, 2, and 15 in 3x + 2 = 15.
3. Choose an equation, plug in the knowns, and solve for the unknown: The equation is already provided as 3x + 2 = 15.

We correct the steps as follows:

1. First, subtract 2 from each side of the equation: 3x = 13.
2. Then, divide both sides by 3 to solve for x: x = 13/3.

Therefore, the correct value of x is 13/3 or approximately 4.33.